Link Centre Dictionary

foolhardy

fool·hardy

UK/ˈfuːlhɑːdi/ US/ˈfulˌhɑɹdi/ uncommon

adjective

1.

marked by unthinking boldness; with defiant disregard for danger or consequences

  • “foolhardy enough to try to seize the gun from the hijacker”
  • “became the fiercest and most reckless of partisans” Macaulay
  • “a reckless driver”
Synonyms
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Origin

From Middle English folehardy, foolhardi, folherdi, from Old French fol hardi (“foolishly bold”), from Old French fol (“foolish, silly; insane, mad”) (from Latin follis (“bellows; purse, sack; inflated ball; belly, paunch”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *bʰelǵʰ- (“to swell”)) + Old French hardi (“durable, hardy, tough”) (past tense of hardir (“to harden”), from the unattested Frankish *hartjan, from Proto-Germanic *harduz (“hard; brave”)), equivalent to fool + hardy. Compare fool-bold, fool-large, etc.

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.